The Overland Track Day 2 - January 2, 2009

The snow eased overnight and we woke to a beautiful, white landscape. It wasn't a white christmas but it was as close as we'd probably ever get in Australia. By this stage there had been about 15-20cm of snowfall. 

Waterfall Valley

 The hut was very crowded in the morning as many groups had arrived through the night. The last group arrived at nearly 9:30 pm after arriving in Tassie  that morning. They drove down to Cradle Valley and started late afternoon in quite horrible conditions. By he time they arrived at Waterfall Valley there was no chance of them setting up a tent so the floor of the hut looked pretty attractive.

Our group of 5 had a small conference in the morning as the previous day sure tested us all, although the boys did an amazing job in conditions that tested many adults. After some discussion we decided to use the rest day we'd built into our itinerary and wait for some snow to stop falling and clear off the track before proceeding. Planning this sort of flexibility into any walk is invaluable as it gave us a chance to dry out properly, regain some energy and dry our gear thoroughly.

Snowball Fight!

 The next question was obviously what to do with a spare day in the snow. Of course, there as no TV, computers, internet and so on, so the obvious choice was snowball fights and snowmen. When you're stuck in a small valley with very little level ground, and  you need to build a snowman, always look for a nearby helipad. They make it very easy from a level ground perspective and the accumulation of snow. There's a survival tip Bear Grylls won't teach you.

Snowmen on the Helipad

Windblown Tree

As the crowd thinned out we realised there were a few other groups with a similar plan to our own. One lovely couple we met were Terry and Cathy from Penguin on Tassie's north west coast. We ended up walking a similar itinerary for the rest of the walk and became good friends.

As the day progressed the hut again started to fill with the next group of walkers. There's a sign on the door of the hut advising walkers to enter through the rear drying room in order to keep the hut floor dry. One walker arrived and came in through the front doors I proceeded to point out the drying room at the back and the rear entrance that should be used. This walker held out his hand, introduced himself as Brian, and proceeded to give me his Parks and Wildlife Services business card. Yep, I'd just attempted to correct a National Parks Ranger. Thankfully he was very good natured, we had a good laugh and ended up becoming good friends. He, along with many others, took a keen interest in both our boys and their Papa doing the walk together. This started many conversations throughout the week. 

Helipad at Waterfall Valley Hut

The approach to Waterfall Valley Hut

Waterfall Valley - more snowball fight

By mid afternoon the snow had stopped falling and we were getting glimpses of blue sky. This encouraged us no end as we knew we couldn't wait another day and would have to walk tomorrow no mater what the weather was like. The clearing conditions also gave me a chance to explore the valley a bit and I was able to visit the old hut that I stayed in on my previous trips.

Old Waterfall Valley Hut

Looking back at the new hut from the original hut

Shelly and the boys got a great surprise late afternoon when they looked outside and noticed a prominent peak overlooking the whole valley. Until this point they hadn't realised Barn Bluff was so close and they got a new appreciation for the surroundings they were in.

Barn Bluff

Across the valley to Barn Bluff

As the second night came we were in good spirits and keen to get going tomorrow as we headed on toward  Windermere Hut on the shores of Lake Windermere. Most importantly, we were dry and warm.

The Ghost of Bushwalks Past

It's been a while since I updated as I haven't been out walking for some weeks. Hopefully this will be remedied soon, but in the meantime I thought it might be fun to revisit some of the walks we've done as a family. In trying to decide which walk to start with I kept coming back to one place...


The Overland Track, Cradle Mountain - Lake St Clair National Park,
Tasmania


My wife and I, along with our twin boys aged 10 at the time, and my dad, completed this walk in January 2009. I'll write this up as a day by day account to give you a good idea of what is required to undertake this walk.


I'll fill you in on some of our background with this walk.  My dad first undertook this walk in 1978-79. This would now be his 4th trip through the park. I first completed the Overland when I was 12 and this would be my 3rd trip.  My wife had never completed the Overland before but the bug bit her when we summited Cradle Mountain a few years earlier. Obviously our boys were also novices to the Overland, and this would in fact be their first walk of this length and duration.


January 1, 2009 - Day 1


The day dawned with clear skies and quite mild weather...in Devonport. Unfortunately over the past few days the weather bureau had been issuing bushwalkers weather alerts for the Tasmanian Highlands.  Thankfully we took heed of these warnings, helped by previous experience in this part of Tassie, and we were fully prepared for any weather.


We loaded the cars and headed of to Cradle Mountain National Park where we would commence our walk at Ronnies Creek. We arrived at Cradle Valley at 9:00 am to give us as much walking time as possible.

Dad gearing up

Getting ready

Of course, the first order of the day was ensuring everyone had the appropriate wet weather gear on.

We caught the park bus from the visitor's centre to the start of the track at Ronnie's Creek. As we wrote our intentions in the log book it started to hit home just what we were starting  out on.

Signing in

Starting out (my wife's taking the photo)

Our first encounter with Parks staff occurred here when we met a ranger who commended us on our obvious preparedness for the walk.  We found out later, from another ranger, that only days earlier the had dragged a foreign visitor off the track after finding him attempting the walk in denim jeans, no tent, and carrying a shopping bag full of Snickers bars and several bottles of Coke.


The track ahead saw us climb steadily up onto Cradle Plateau while the weather slowly deteriorated. Thankfully it didn;t affect our spirits and we continued to view this as the great adventure it was becoming.

Crater Lake (actually a glacial lake)

From Crater Lake we continued to climb up onto Marion's Lookout, atop the cliffs surrounding Crater Lake. It was during this time the first snowfalls started. We were initially a bit excited by this as January is the middle of Australia's summer, however little did we know that this snow would continue for some time...just how long, and how much you'll find out.

Ascending Marion's Lookout

We hit the top

But it was a struggle

We lunched at Kitchen Hut which is a rather grand name for this construction as it has no kitchen and could barely be clued a hut. But, thankfully for us, it was a dry and relatively wind free spot to have some lunch before heading off around Cradle Cirque. The disappointing part was the lack of views of Cradle Mountain due to the weather. As we continued on the snow continued to fall.

Pandanus Palm under snow

Snow on the track

As we started to descend into Waterfall Valley for our first night the wind was blowing to the point that we had to hold onto our boys' packs as they were getting blown of the track. One funny moment occurred when Jack got blown of into several feet of snow. As I leapt after him to haul him to his feet he started yelling "Dad, dad!". "What" I said. "You're standing on my hand." That explained why I couldn't get him to his feet. Thankfully the snow was soft enough to prevent any damage and we struggled on to Waterfall Valley hut where we settled for the night, got a hot meal into us and had a very welcome first night's sleep.




Tomorrow is a whole new day.

Mike Williams

I want to draw everyone's attention to the death of a great man, and terrific friend, in Darwin.

Mike was a paediatrician in Darwin and a great inspiration to many people, particularly myself.  He was incredibly active in many areas, not just his career. He had a great faith in God and when I first caught up with him inMelbourne, shortly after he was first diagnosed with a brain tumour, he told me he didn;t know how people got through these type of events without faith in God.

Here's a link to a Darwin News report the night he passed away.Mike Williams dies of brain cancer

God's blessings to Jill and the kids.

Lost...and Found

This a rather amazing follow up to an incident from the Bogong High Plains walk.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I lost my GPS receiver somewhere between Dibbin Hut and Cobungra Gap.  I backtracked on the day and had a quick search but, unfortunately, I was unable to find it.

Fast forward to Thursday afternoon 3 days ago. My mobile phone rang and an unknown voice asked "Is that Matt?". Not knowing what to expect I answered "Yeah". "G'day" the voice said, "my name's Mark. I was recently hiking on the Bogong High Plains and I found your GPS unit."

As expected, I was amazed. Firstly, that it would be found at all considering the location it was lost in. Secondly, that the guy who found it would have enough integrity to contact me in order to return it. Lastly, as a strange coincidence, the guy's mum has previously taught at the school my wife now teaches at.

Happily back at home...

I suppose I shouldn't really be surprised at some of these events. Bushwalkers tend to be an honest bunch of people. We understand the work others put in and the enjoyment it brings them. Most of us don't want to contribute, in any way, to a loss of this enjoyment. It might be called "The Bushwalkers Code". 

As far as the strange coincidence goes, I guess that's just another good example of our great God's wonderful sense of humour. It certainly has brightened my week.

Bogong High Plains

I've decided I need to share some of my experiences and opinions about bushwalking and how to enjoy it. I hope to develop this into a resource that I can enjoy, and hopefully others can too.  I'm going to share some trips I do, whether day trips or longer, and if i don't get out often enough I might have to go and revisit some older trips I've done. I might even venture into discussion of gear I use ( or would like to use) as any bushwalker knows you can't have to much gear.

Well...here goes.

November was a great month as I finally got to go bush again after 18 months with no adventures. This one happened because I had annual leave when my wife's school needed an extra helper for a school camp. I only had to be prepared to accompany 15 boys aged 14-15 years old.

The camp took place over 5 days following a circuit from Mt Loch, near Mt Hotham, across the Bogong High Plains to Cope Hut then back to Mt Feathertop and home.

Day 1


Due to a long drive on the first day we had a late start but good weather so walked from Mt Loch carpark to Dibbins Hut.

Mt Feathertop from Mt Loch carpark

We had fantastic views of Mt Feathertop as we started but these were soon lost as we started past Derrick hut and on down Swindlers Spur to Dibbin Hut.  Thankfully, these were replaced by equally impressive views as the weather started to turn grey (but no rain yet).

View from Swindler's Spur

We arrived at Dibbin hut with enough daylight left to set camp and cook dinner then settle down for our first night.

Dibbin Hut

Day 2

We woke to a beautiful morning for our climb up through Cobungra Gap to the Bogong High Plains proper.

Dibbin Hut

It was as we started up through Cobungra Gap that disaster struck.  Well, maybe not disaster but I thought t was tragic. My trusty Garmin GPS60 became detached from it's belt clip and landed in a bush somewhere. As I was only 2 kms from camp I decided to back track to camp to see if I could find it. Yep, I realise the irony of losing a GPS receiver. I suppose technically it's not lost. It probably knows exactly where it is. Needless to say, I never found it. If anyone heads down there some time and finds a Garmin GPS60, please let me know. It has a lot of memories attached to it.

I didn't let this ruin my trip as the scenery was too good so we continued on across the Bogong High Plains to Cope Hut.

Bogong High Plains

Cope Hut

That night saw windy weather yet a stunning view as we settled down for a well earned hot meal and rest.

The view from Cope Hut

Day 3

Day 3 couldn't have started any different. Rain from 4:00 am saw everything well and truly drenched. Everyone had their wet weather gear but packing packs and tents in wind and rain still slows you down.

Weather blows in 

We started out a bit later today and thankfully the rain stopped after half an hour and remained dry for the rest of the day. Today was another long day (almost 20 kms) but covered some fantastic scenery.

Falls near Tawonga Huts

We passed Weston Hut before dropping down onto the West Kiewa River for a night at Blair Hut.

Weston Hut

Day 4

Today was to be THE day. We climb Diamantina Spur up to The Razorback. If you've ever been here you'll know why this day was to be the hardest. Diamantina Spur climes just short of 800 metres over a track length of 3.5 mms. At point the track navigates up a (thankfully) short section of almost vertical rock face(at least, it feels vertical when you've got 20 kgs on your back) that requires hands and feet to ascend. 

It's hard to convey the steepness of Diamantina Spur

The great thing about any difficult climb while bushwalking is the great view you get at the top. After struggling up Diamantina Spur we finished the day with an afternoon climb of Mt Feathertop.

Ascending Mt Feathertop

View from the top

Day 5

Day 5 arrived all too soon. We had a lovely day to finsh with fine weather for a short walk along The Razorback. By this stage everyone found this great way to finish along a gently undulating track full of spectacular views.

The Razorback

We finished the week with no more than a few blisters, a couple of cut fingers, and a lot of sore feet. It was a tough walk, particularly for Year 9 students, but what a fantastic week we had.

Mt Feathertop

Well, I hope you enjoyed my first post. Hopefully this will motivate me to get out more and share my experiences. See you on the track...